


Third Time's the Charm

by Musetotheworld



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, SuperCat Slam, long distance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-30
Updated: 2016-11-30
Packaged: 2018-09-02 15:28:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8672716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Musetotheworld/pseuds/Musetotheworld
Summary: Kara can cross long distances in seconds, but sometimes distance is about more than the miles.





	

"I always thought I would be the one to leave CatCo," Kara says as she watches Cat pack. She knows it's their only option, that beyond that this is what Cat needs, but it still hurts. "Isn't it always the assistant that's supposed to face the consequences of potential scandal?"

"I told you when we started dating that your job would never be at risk," Cat reminds her, closing the suitcase carefully before turning to Kara with a soft look on her face. "I've had my run, but you Kara, there's still so much left for you to do at CatCo. So much of yourself left to find. The board is getting suspicious, I'm getting bored, and you need a chance to prove yourself without me being right next to you. And it's not like you'll never see me."

Kara knows that's all true, has known it since her hearing picked up two board members muttering after a meeting. Since Cat had started drinking more at work, though never so much that Kara worried, just enough to be noticeable. But that doesn't mean she has to like it.

"It won't be the same," she complains, crossing the room to pull Cat into her arms, still reveling in the fact she's allowed to do this despite the months they've been dating. "I know I still haven't moved in, that we're taking the serious things slowly, but I was here more often than not this past month. It's going to be weird, not waking up next to you every day."

"That's still an option. You'll know every step of my itinerary, and you can cross the country faster than I can cross the city with light traffic. This doesn't have to be long distance, Kara, not for us." Cat doesn't pull back until Kara does, placing a soft kiss to her lips as they part. "In fact, that's the only reason I chose this plan."

"Trying to have everything all at once?" Kara teases, finally giving in to the inevitable and helping Cat pack another suitcase. "I thought you said that wasn't possible."

"It isn't," Cat says, bringing a few outfits over for Kara to pack. "It's keeping what's important and finding new horizons as I leave others behind." And Kara knows she doesn't react when Cat says that, knows she's gotten better at hiding her reactions, but somehow Cat sees it anyway. "Kara, you are not one of the things I’m leaving behind," she says immediately, dropping the shirt in her hands to pull Kara into another embrace. "God, Kara, I don't know how I ever _could_ leave you. If I didn't know you could find me in Antarctica I wouldn't be able to get on that plane tomorrow."

Kara lets the reassurance soothe her, just as much as the calming motion of Cat's hands on her back. Cat knows how much she hates change, how much she hates the thought of being sent away or left behind. From the moment she'd suggested this plan Cat had done her best to make Kara understand she wasn't leaving anything but National City, and most of the time it worked. But Kara's insecurities ran as deep as her love, though not as strong, and had a habit of flaring up at the least provocation. The people in her life she most depended on, Cat included, all knew this and did their best to head off any doubts before they took hold. 

“You’ll be in Metropolis Thursday, right?” Kara asks once she’s gotten control of her emotions, double checking despite having Cat’s plans memorized.

“Yes, I should arrive in the early afternoon. But you’re welcome to come see me in Opal City too, you know.” Cat’s attention turns back to her packing as she speaks, too much left to do and barely enough time to finish. She’d left it until the last minute, hating the impending separation just as much as Kara does.

“You deserve your time with Adam to be uninterrupted,” Kara says softly, grabbing for the next pile of clothes. Shaking the top shirt out she’s surprised to see it’s one of hers, not one of Cat’s. “Why are you packing one of my shirts? I thought you hated this one. You’re not trying to destroy them somewhere I won’t notice, are you?” She’s mostly joking, though as more of her cardigans and dresses have migrated to Cat’s closet, the more Cat has found reason to make comments. It’s as if, as much as they both know Kara is wanted there, Cat can’t give up her space without some kind of defensive gesture. And Kara knows it’s not true judgement, that while Cat may judge the clothes themselves she will never judge Kara for liking them.

“Don’t be silly, I promised I would hold my destructive impulses back so long as you found one or two adult outfits to add to your wardrobe,” Cat says, a hint of a blush starting to dust across her cheeks. It’s enough to tip Kara off, and she fixes Cat with a pointed stare as she tries to figure out why her girlfriend would be having that reaction.

“You were going to miss my clothes, weren’t you?” Kara says when it clicks, the deepening blush telling her she’s made a direct hit.

“I didn’t want you to fly across the country with an overnight bag slowing you down each time,” Cat says, trying to deny what they both know is true. “And besides that, if I have this horrid thing with me, then no one here has to lay eyes on it. It’s really doing National City a favor, darling.”

Kara hums in amusement at that but decides to let it go for now, already planning how best to use the knowledge to her advantage in the future. Right now she just needs to help finish packing and grab every moment she still has with Cat.

X

It’s harder than Kara thinks entirely fair to keep away from Cat while she’s in Opal City, but she means what she’d said about giving mother and son time together. Their relationship has mended more than Cat had ever hoped, and Adam is even one of the few who knows the truth about them dating, but that doesn’t mean Kara should take away from Cat’s focus. A few texts here and there have to be enough, because as much as Kara wishes for more she’s never going to risk overstepping in that relationship ever again.

Still, Thursday comes quickly, and Kara is in Metropolis almost before Cat even lands. She’s impatient enough that the necessary identity precautions chafe more than usual, but if she shows up at the landing strip as Supergirl or Kara Danvers, she knows Alex and Cat will both never let her hear the end of it. And frankly, Kara has better ideas of how to spend the evening than listening to a lecture.

So instead she waits on the balcony of Cat’s hotel suite, knowing it won’t take long to go through the process of checking in. She’ll just have to stay hidden while they bring in the luggage, and she can do that. If nothing else, super speed can keep her out of the way and completely unseen, she’ll just have to be careful about air displacement as she’s running about.

But no one comes out to the balcony while Cat is settling in, meaning Kara can stand carefully out of sight and let the sound of Cat’s heartbeat wash over her. Even though it hasn’t even been a full week, it’s been too long since she’s heard the steady, comforting rhythm.

“Quit lurking on the balcony and get in here,” Kara hears almost as soon as the door closes behind the hotel staff, and she can’t hold back a smile as she heads inside.

“How did you know I was there?” Kara asks, because she’d been more than careful to avoid giving any sign of her presence.

“Because I know you, and if you weren’t on that balcony then some alien was attacking National City. Given that my phone is quiet and no one is screaming on the news, I knew that wasn’t the case.” Cat sounds smug, not that Kara can blame her. She really does know Kara very well by now.

“Even if there was an alien attacking National City, I’m on emergency calls only for tonight,” Kara says before quick changing into one of the lounging outfits Cat had packed for her, knowing that even without her presence Cat would want a quiet evening in after a day of travelling. After all, Cat isn’t the only one who knows her partner, what to expect from the night.

They’ll have a quiet evening catching up on what’s been going on, all the little things that haven’t fit into text messages and stolen phone calls. Cat will order room service and Kara will protest the quantities, claim she can run out to grab takeout and be back before Cat even notices she’s gone, and Cat will argue and order anyway. (‘ _You’re the one who makes such a big deal out of laying low, how can you explain this much food?’ ‘These rooms aren’t expensive solely for comfort, darling, they’re paid extremely well to be very discreet_.) Then they’ll fall into bed, either still talking or letting their actions speak, neither particularly caring which. And in the morning when Kara finally has to leave so she isn’t late for work, Cat will start her day as well.

It’s a pattern they know well, even the room service from the times Cat had travelled on CatCo business, and it’s one that they fall into easily while Cat is in Metropolis. Kara doesn’t fly out every night, not wanting National City to think she’s absent, not wanting to give any ideas to those who would threaten her city. But she’s there often enough to keep the distance from getting to them, enough to make it almost seem that Cat had never left. Even when she doesn’t fly out, it could almost just be a busy night for them both, something they’ve grown very familiar with over the months of dating.

But when crime and the number of alien attacks steps up, there are a few days that Kara doesn’t make it to Metropolis at all, and she misses Cat relocating to Washington D.C. entirely as the days stretch into weeks. She hates it, the fact that Cat completely understands making it no easier, but there’s not much she can do. She’d sworn to protect the Earth, and specifically National City, and she can’t abandon that promise just because she misses her girlfriend.

When the crime rates finally drop (Kara thinks it’s because she’s managed to turn over half the major and petty criminals in the city to NCPD) she heads to Washington without a second thought, consumed by a burning need to see Cat, to curl into her side and relax after far too many nights of vigilance. Her work at CatCo over the past weeks has kept her from superhero burnout, but she needs Cat to ground her, to let her fully take off the cape and just be Kara for a night. She’d even debated calling in sick tomorrow, even knowing Cat isn’t likely to have much free time. Old habits die hard after all, and even in a world without deadlines Cat packs the most she possibly can into each and every day.

Cat isn’t in the room when Kara gets to the hotel, which while disappointing isn’t entirely unexpected. Particularly because Kara hadn’t let Cat know she’d be flying in tonight, that National City was once again secure and didn’t need Supergirl’s constant presence. Evening meetings in the capitol often ended up extending into dinner outings, with fine wine and good food helping ease deals into fruition. It’s why Cat tends to leave her balcony doors unlocked, never shutting Kara out even when she doesn’t know when she’ll be back, a tangible symbol of her wanting Kara to be welcome in her life.

When Cat isn’t back by midnight, Kara starts drafting an email to Snapper letting him know she won’t be in. It’s not the first time Cat has been back so late, but after more than a month of not seeing each other Kara feels every minute of Cat’s absence, and doesn’t know if she’ll be able to make herself leave when the alarm goes off in the morning. Even if all she gets is a few minutes in between Cat’s many appointments, she needs the time with her girlfriend.

The clock hits 2 am before Kara sends the email she’d finished over an hour ago, and Cat still hasn’t shown. She debates texting Cat, knows that if her girlfriend knew she was waiting then business would have wrapped up a long time ago, but Kara can’t bring herself to be that person. Cat is a busy woman, she’s known that for years, and every moment of her time is valuable. If she’s in the middle of something big, Kara isn’t going to stand in her way.

She falls asleep, reluctantly, somewhere close to 3 in the morning, wondering if maybe she should have told Cat after all. She’s used to sleeping alone, even if she craves the warmth of Cat at her side every time she does, but somehow _this_ bed feels empty. It’s as if her body knows Cat should be next to her, no matter how often Kara tells herself that she can’t expect Cat to always be there. That there will be times apart in their lives, no matter what happens between them. It’s just a fact of who they both are.

When she wakes in the morning Cat is curled around her, and Kara doesn’t know how she didn’t wake up, wonders when Cat had gotten back. It feels like a missed opportunity, but Kara pushes the disappointment away in order to focus on the soothing sound of Cat’s breathing, the warmth of her body as she lays cuddled into Kara’s side. Kara could spend hours like this, even though she knows Cat is physically incapable of staying still for that long, even asleep.

As if to prove the thought, long before Kara is tired of holding her Cat rolls over, hand moving to cover her eyes as the sunlight streaming into the room starts to pull her towards consciousness. And while Kara loves holding her girlfriend close, the sight of her waking up is another favorite that she rarely gets to enjoy. Cat is usually awake far earlier than Kara, or they’ll wake up together but without leisure to lay in bed and stretch, both rolling out of bed almost immediately to deal with their responsibilities for the day.

“Hey,” Cat says sleepily when her eyes open, smiling up at Kara with a softer look on her face than Kara thinks she’s ever seen before. “You didn’t tell me you were coming last night.”

“I didn’t know I was,” Kara admits, leaning over to place a soft kiss on softer lips, unable to resist any longer. “The crime rates dropped, and Alex told me if I didn’t fly my ass out here she’d kick it so hard I crossed the distance anyway. Said I’d been moping around and you should knock some sense into me,” she says when she pulls back, leaning her forehead against Cat’s, unwilling to move any further away.

“Remind me to thank your sister,” Cat breathes against her skin, eyes closed and a soft smile playing across her mouth. “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too.” The admission falls easily from Kara’s lips, unashamed as she is by her need for the woman she loves. “I know that National City needed me, but a month is too long for nothing more than phone calls and skype.”

“It really is,” Cat agrees with a sigh, one hand lazily tracing patterns across Kara’s stomach. “Hopefully now that things have calmed down you can make it out here more often.”

“Still no plans to make it closer to home?” Kara can’t help asking, even though she knows distance has been half of the reason for Cat leaving in the first place. Distance protects them, insulates them from most of the people who know Kara on sight, means that on very rare occasions and at restaurants chosen for discretion they can even go out in public together. The closer they get to home, the more people recognize Cat on sight, the more risk their secret runs of being uncovered.

And as much as Kara wants the world to know how lucky she is, she’s well aware that they both have too much to lose should the public find out about them. It’s still too soon after leaving CatCo to avoid unwanted speculation on whether they’d been together while Kara was still Cat’s assistant, and given that Cat wants this to be a leave of absence, extended but still ultimately temporary, the last thing they need to is give the board any reason to call her judgement or ability to lead into question.

And for Kara, any media attention could make someone realize the truth of her identity, particularly when Supergirl has been linked so closely to Cat and CatCo. Her disguise works not because it’s brilliant, Kara knows very well that it isn’t, but because no one expects to see a Superhero with a day job. Even Clark gets away with being well known simply because no one who knows him, without really knowing him, could ever see him as Superman. The glasses just keep people from realizing on first glance, allowing the personas they hide behind to do the real work. But give someone not one, but multiple chances to notice? To see the similarities, both physical and in her connection to Cat? Kara doesn’t believe for a second that no one would figure it out, and neither does Cat.

“Not any time soon,” Cat says apologetically, finally pulling back to silence the alarm that she’d set. “I know I didn’t have much of a direction planned when I started this, but I’ve been speaking to a few Senators, and I have an idea for a foundation, getting aliens into political work now that they’ve been granted citizenship. I’ll have to be here in order to get it off the ground. The public isn’t going to like it, so I’ll need strong support to make it happen, and I don’t have quite the type or number of favors owed me yet.”

Kara tries not to let the drop in her mood show when she realizes just how long Cat will likely be in the Capitol, how long they’ll have to do this balancing of responsibilities and distance. Building a foundation can take just as much time and effort as building an empire, even with the pull Cat already has.

Apparently she’s successful, because Cat doesn’t even pause before leaning in for another kiss, sliding out of bed without pause once it ends. “I hate to run, darling, but I didn’t know you were visiting and I have a breakfast meeting with two Senators on the budget committee I can’t reschedule. Will you be back tonight?”

“I actually wasn’t going to leave,” Kara says with a flush, her plan to play hooky now seeming childish. “I emailed Snapper last night and told him I’d caught something from the last article he had me on and wouldn’t be in today.”

“I’ll see if I can reschedule or cancel my lunch plans, but I don’t know whether my evening can be freed,” Cat says with a frown, looking down at where Kara is still lying in bed with a longing look on her face. “I’ll at least keep it short, but private donors are very touchy about the demands on their time.”

“No, I know,” Kara says with a forced smile, knowing that Cat sees right through it despite her best efforts. “I was your assistant for years, I know how much work goes into matching schedules up. I’ll take a well-earned lazy day until you get back.”

“If you want to work on my lunch plans, you probably know better than I do how best to reschedule them without issue,” Cat says, slowly moving towards the en suite without looking away from Kara. “It’s with a marketing chair at that political group you got me to feature, I wanted to discuss the possibility of mentorship programs with their people. They should already know you as my assistant, even if they know you aren’t any longer it won’t raise any flags.” She looks like she wants to say more, but Kara knows exactly how long it takes Cat to get ready, particularly for a meeting with someone like a Senator, and that time is rapidly running out.

“I’ll call them, and send you a text letting you know,” Kara promises, already sitting up and reaching for Cat’s day planner and the relevant information.

Without an assistant on the road Cat has to keep her own schedule in line, and Kara knows that includes more information than what she alone needs, in case Kara needs any of it as well. Not just for situations like this, though they’ve come up on occasion, but to keep her promise that Kara will always know where Cat is should she need to.

It takes longer than Kara would prefer to reschedule the lunch, and by the time she finishes Cat is already heading for the door. Tossing her phone to the bed and using a bit of super speed to catch up, Kara pulls Cat in for a deeper kiss that is probably wise given the time constraints on her girlfriend, but she can’t help it. It’s been a month since she’s been able to do that, and the quick peck Cat had pressed to her lips as she’d been on the phone hadn’t been anywhere near enough of a proper goodbye.

“Your lunch is rescheduled,” Kara says when the kiss ends, sneaking a guilty look at the clock as she realizes just how long she’s delayed Cat. It’s not terrible, but it means she won’t be early the way she prefers to be. “Should I make plans or will you come back here?”

“Plans,” Cat says, shaking her head slightly to refocus. “If you do that again, I won’t make my dinner meeting.”

“I’ll let you know where,” Kara says as she steps back, resisting the urge to prove Cat’s words as truth. She can’t expect her girlfriend to drop everything for her, no matter how much she’s missed this. They’ll have a nice- if casual- lunch out, and then after dinner Cat will be back and they can catch up on lost time. She’ll be fine. Maybe she’ll nap in the sunlight and recharge after the stress of the past few weeks.

X

Lunch ends up cut short when Cat gets a call from an old contact with immense political sway that can only meet this afternoon or sometime next month, and Kara tries very hard not to pout as Cat leaves. It’s usually a very effective weapon, but between her determination to avoid pulling Cat away from her work and the fact that they’re in public, it’s not the time. They’d at least been able to finish their meals, and the time spent in the same room after so long apart is already enough to remind Kara that the separation is worth it to have this.

The afternoon is spend sunbathing and catching up on her reading, enjoying the leisure time that’s been so scarce over the past weeks. Being on Cat’s balcony makes her miss her girlfriend’s presence, but at the same time it’s soothing as well. At least here she knows Cat will be back, as opposed to National City where Cat’s absence is an unchanging fact. With Carter spending the year with his father in Central City, something he’d asked for long before Cat’s plans to travel, there’s been nothing to pull her back. Here, even though the hours stretch on enough to make Kara ask Alex if there are aliens who can warp time, she knows that eventually Cat will return.

When the clock shows nine, Kara can’t help texting Cat, because two hours at dinner is longer than she’d been expecting given the promise to be back as quickly as possible. No one can talk someone into things the way Cat can, and by now Kara should have gotten at least a text that her girlfriend was done and heading her way. Instead, she’s gotten nothing.

Cat at least answers quickly, though the response isn’t exactly what Kara had been hoping for. _“He wants to talk, darling, but he’s already half promised his support. I shouldn’t be much longer”_

It earns a sigh of frustration, but at least it’s something. Standing and pacing the main room of the suite, Kara tries to focus on her breathing, shutting out the rest of the world as she walks in slow circles. The noise from the city falls away as she narrows her hearing to capture only the steady beat of her heart, and between the lead of her glasses and keeping her eyes pointed at the ground nothing distracts her there either. It’s an old trick she’d learned as a teenager, one that keeps her from being overwhelmed by physical sensations when her mind is racing.

It does mean she misses Cat’s text that she’s done, misses how much time has passed as she begins to very slightly float just slightly above the carpet to keep from wearing a hole through it as she paces. She’d learned the hard way that she could do that, though thankfully on carpet that already needed replaced.

It’s also a dead giveaway when Cat returns to see her, not that Kara notices until her girlfriend is standing directly in front of her. She’d lost track of time, missed the text telling her that Cat was on her way back, and now Cat knows just how much the events of the day have affected her.

“Darling, what’s wrong?” Cat asks as soon as Kara fully meets her gaze, settling back into the world as she opens up her senses.

“I didn’t realize you could feel like a third wheel to a job,” Kara admits, knowing that hiding it will not only be useless but completely unhelpful. “I know that what you’re doing is important, and that it’s important to you, but I feel left out. I know, it’s stupid.” Kara looks back down at the floor as she speaks, ashamed of how needy she sounds.

“Kara, look at me,” Cat says softly, a gentle hand pressing lightly at her chin until their eyes meet. And there’s no judgement hiding in Cat’s warm eyes, no anger or disappointment, just love and acceptance. “I did leave you out today, and I hated every minute of it. I’d planned to make it up to you tonight, I could tell it disappointed you. But if I’d known it affected you this strongly, I would have cancelled everything.”

“I can’t ask you to do that,” Kara disagrees immediately, because she isn’t worth sacrificing days and weeks of planning over, not for a single day. “I won’t. Your schedule is crazy, I know it is. And I showed up unannounced, I have no right to expect you to drop everything for me.”

“You have every right.” It’s Cat’s turn to protest, and she does so fiercely, the determination in her voice grabbing hold of Kara and freezing her in place. “Kara Danvers, you have every right to expect that of me, and I shouldn’t have made you ask, or feel you had to hide what you were feeling. You deserve the world, Kara, anything and everything I can give you. And if what you want is me, then fuck my schedule. You’re more important.”

Kara breaks when she hears that, the reassurance shattering her insecurities, the pain of the separation, everything that had built up over the past month. It’s what she’d needed to hear, something she hadn’t even realized she how much she needed until Cat was offering it to her. She can’t help pulling Cat in for a hug, registering the whispered words of comfort but far more focused on the feel of the woman she loves in her arms.

“I love you, Cat,” she whispers when she’s managed to get control of herself, feeling the arms around her tighten at the words. This isn’t the first time she’s said them, but something about tonight makes them hit with that much more emotion.

“I love you too, Kara,” Cat says, pulling back so that the truth of the words can be seen in her eyes. “Marry me?”

Kara stares at Cat in shock for a long moment, sure she’s misheard. It’s only when Cat shifts nervously, seemingly ready to pull away, that Kara realizes she hasn’t answered. “Of course I will, Cat. But you hate marriage. And we’re still hiding our relationship. And you’re still going to be here while I’m in National City.”

“You know, agreeing and then listing reasons against is not the way this usually goes,” Cat says with a frown, and Kara quickly leans down to kiss her.

“I want nothing more than to be with you, married or not. But married sounds really nice,” Kara whispers when she thinks Cat should be reassured enough.

“I want you to know how much you mean to me,” Cat explains, laying her head on Kara’s chest in a show of vulnerability she rarely indulges in. “Your point about hiding is a valid point, and will make for a long engagement, but I want that promise between us. I haven’t been very good about showing you how much I care, but I do love you more than I can say, Kara. And yes, I’ve been in bad marriages before, but that doesn’t mean I’ll hate this one. This time is different, because you’re different.”

“Third time’s the charm, huh?” Kara says with a laugh, the truth of the situation hitting her and making her giddy with joy. “Oh Rao, we’re getting married.”

“Yes, we are,” Cat says, looking up at her with a smile that quickly turns to a smirk. “But first you’re sending another email, I think you and I are both going to be indisposed tomorrow.”


End file.
